Last Friday my brother made the monumental decision to get a tattoo. A permanent ode to some aspect of his life that he felt was important enough to engrain into the first few layers of his skin for all of eternity. A heart-warming sentiment to be sure.

Most people (read as anyone not named Jay Grote) choose tattoos that reflect something very special to them. Perhaps a cross or another religious symbol. Some people get tattoos to honor relatives or friends. Even tributes to a favorite band, movie, or TV show are common topics for tattoos. My brother, however, chose to go a slightly different route.

Instead of getting a tattoo that says “hey, this is me, this is what I feel is important,” my brother decided to get four strips of bacon tattooed around his arm…which is basically his way of telling people, “hey, I’m mentally unstable.”

The whole week leading up to this event (tragedy?), my mom was texting me, asking things like, “Do you think he will regret it?” Well, mom, OBVIOUSLY. I knew that he would regret it sometime in the future…which is why I did what any good older brother should do: I egged him on and threw my full support behind him. Because, hey, this is just too funny.

In my recent post, I told you about how my family worships meat almost as a lesser god. Point proven. Below are some pictures, just in case you are hesitant to believe that someone would actually tattoo a greasy strip of pig stomach onto their arm:

The Sketch-Up

The midway point: the bacon bleeds

I must admit, the tattoo did turn out a lot better than it could have. Bacon is not an easy thing to draw, especially on someone’s skin, so I was pleasantly surprised at how recognizable the meat was. Shout out to Short North Tattoo, which is located a little bit south of campus on High Street. If you’re looking to tattoo any sort of breakfast meat onto your body, this is the place to go. And, hell, they do a pretty good job on regular tattoos as well.

For those of you who are still in disgusted awe at my brother’s new tattoo, let me leave you with this: “Bacon is only skin deep.” Man, I’m punny.